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Monday, December 17, 2012

Quick Handmade Gift: DIY Travel First Aid Kit

I was in need of a "favorite thing" for a MOPS meeting. Well for me, the favorite thing was easy- sewing...what to make was more challenging. I needed something easy and quick...I had one naptime and the items in my craft room to get this done. Now...what would moms like to have? I threw around several ideas when I found this tutorial from Positively Splendid. Perfect- a travel first aid kit. I got busy cutting and creating the pattern...all was going well. I found this fun flower fabric I have had in my stash for awhile now, just waiting for a project. And just enough mustard yellow fabric left over from another project to make the kit...awesome.

Or so I thought, I neglected to read the whole tutorial supply list and realized I didn't have any ribbon to match...crud...what to do. The ribbon is used to close the kit, so it was an essential part of the project. I thought and looked around and finally came up with the idea of using elastic instead. I happened to have matching teal elastic, so I fiddled around with it a bit and came up with the following way of inserting it to hold the kit closed.

First I cut a piece of elastic about 8 inches long. Then I wrapped it into a loop and placed the two ends in the center of the fabric (with the loop laying on top of the center of the fabric) and tacked it down using a few stitches. Then I placed the main back fabric on top and stitched around the outside, leaving an opening for turning, per the tutorial.

When rolled up, the elastic easily stretches around the kit to hold it closed. I made two at the same time, one to give away and one to keep, and have found mine very handy several times already. The item I reach for most is the nail clipper. I have used it for hang nails and broken nails quite a bit!

I would recommend this for a quick and easy project that is also very practical.
Shannon